21 Ways to Design a Card: Part 6 — Proverbs

Proverbs are a source of inspiration for Magic cards. I looked at a list of proverbs and designed some cards from them.

At first I intended to make this a minor episode, but I ended up with quite a few cards.

No pain, no gain.

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Might makes right.

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I thought of something like Favor of the Mighty which is quite an interesting effect that I want to give to green. But that card was hardly played. Putting it on a creature might make it better.

Ignorance is bliss.

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5cc is the mana range where you get Fugue and Mind Sludge and other cards that completely wreck the hand, so I think this should be ok.

Out of sight, out of mind.

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Returning two of the opponent's lands seems harsh, but considering that the opponent will draw two extra cards because of that, I'm hoping it's ok. I want it to have the flexibility of returning your own cards to cycle if possible.

Procrastination is the thief of time.

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I made two cards out of this.

I just loved the expression, Thief of Time.

I think the most dangerous aspect with sorceries that give you a free turn is that you will use the extra turn to cast another copy of it. This faerie doesn't have that problem because it requires buildup.

I made a card for procrastination too. It's what happens when you tackle minor things for satisfaction first.

Diseases of the soul are more dangerous than those of the body.

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I didn't know there was such an expression.

Anyways, I saw this proverb as a comparison between the body and one other attribute, and this came to mind:

Prevention is better than cure.

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This proverb is very wise. An answer card that kills Jace after the opponent brainstormed is low impact.

Take that, Squadron Hawk! Take that, Jace! That's what you get for running predictable decks!

I thought of just making this an enchantment Meddling Mage that costs 2. But Meddling Mage being a creature is important, I guess, since it can be answered by almost any deck, making it balanced.

A rotten apple spoils the barrel.

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No man's an island.

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It's true that no man's an island. But this proverb is best coupled with, "There's a first to everything."

Better late than never.

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When the procrastination devil gets me, this druid nudges me on.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

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It seems R&D refers to the type of fun when you build up your permanents over time as "Sim City." This card allows you to play Sim City style, and forces your opponent to play along.

This probably still needs some tweaking, as it might be too frustrating even for the buildup player.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

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Somebody said on the GDS2 Wiki that there should be a rule where the term "copying a spell" for permanent spells means the permanent would come into play as a token. I've often felt that way myself, when designing cards like these.

Lightning never strikes twice.

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I often think of wordy cards first, and then it becomes simplified as I try more versions. At first I made this:

Then I simplified it to this:

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.

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At first I thought of this:

I massaged the text until I ended up with this:

Who knows, this might actually be balanced as a hard counter at 1cc. After all, it won't counter anything on turn 1.

Doing this exercise, I found that many proverbs remind me of existing cards. "Birds of a feather flock together" reminds me of Welkin Hawk. "No pain, no gain" reminds me of Test of Faith. "Every man has his price" reminds me of Legacy's Allure. Maybe some of them got inspiration from proverbs?